A groom won over his Huddersfield Town-mad father-in-law by ripping off his wedding suit at the reception to reveal a Terriers shirt.

Mark Silvester, 31, formally asked David Fleming, 62, for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Retired trades union official David, a Town fan for 51 years, agreed – on condition his future son-in-law attend three Town games with him.

Mark, who hates football, reluctantly agreed but failed to make it to any matches before his wedding to Christine, 31, at the end of last month.

Huddersfield Town fan David Fleming (right) embraces son-in-law Mark Silvester
Huddersfield Town fan David Fleming (right) embraces son-in-law Mark Silvester

David, who grew up in Liversedge but moved down south in 1972, let the marriage go ahead and was stunned when Mark showed his true colours during his wedding speech.

“It was such a wonderful occasion and so natural,” said David.

“I was thrilled to bits when Mark took his jacket and shirt off to reveal the Town shirt underneath.

“I was thrilled to bits and it took guts to do that in front of everybody.”

David entered into the spirit and bowed down before his son-in-law.

“It made me a very proud father-in-law,” he said. “It was one hell of a stunt.”

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David, who now lives in Brighton, gets to a handful of Town games every season – particularly Leeds home and away – and insisted on taking motor racing fan Mark with him to three matches as a rite of passage.

But David’s passion for Town – he even has the manager’s toilet chain from the old Leeds Road ground – left Mark baffled.

David Fleming jokingly bows down before son-in-law Mark Silvester
David Fleming jokingly bows down before son-in-law Mark Silvester

David, who has a wife Jean, 59, and a son Tom, 29, an Arsenal fan, said Mark came up with a “range of fantastic excuses” for not joining his Town trips.

“When it came to the wedding I decided I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it,” said David.

“But I made a couple of comments in my speech and said the wedding was under warranty until Mark came to these three games.

Mark Silvester and new wife Christine.
Mark Silvester and new wife Christine.

“Unbeknown to me Mark had a Town shirt under his suit and he ripped it off during his speech. It was a hot day and he must have been sweating under there.

“There was a shocked silence until people realised what he was doing. Then he just brought the house down.”

David has written to Town commercial director Sean Jarvis asking him to officially welcome Mark into the Terriers family.